[TLOchs]

I wanted to post this before I leave tomorrow morning for our visit trip to Guatemala.

My agency had our conference call this evening and this is a brief synopsis:

* After lengthy meetings between my agency and the State Dept (meetings were held in Texas and Washington, D.C), the State Dept has asked my agency to halt its Guatemalan adoption program because of upcoming changes to the Guatemalan adoption process.

*According to the State Dept, adoptive families can expect a slow down in the process (primarily in the orphan investigation stage)

*According to the State Dept, it may start requiring a 2nd DNA test that will be ordered at the end of the adoption (prior to issuing PINK).

*State Dept believes that there is child switching happening after the inital DNA test

*This new requirement may begin at any time and could impact families currently in all stages of the process

* State Dept believes that the implementation date of the Hague Treaty will be 02/18/08

*My agency will suspend the acceptance of new families into the Guatemalan program until at least the end of the year 2007

*My agency will cease working with private attorneys/foster mothers for those parents who have been accepted into their Guatemalan program yet have not received a referral. They are starting to develop relationships with several orphanages

*State Department indicates that adoptions through orphanages will have less State Dept investigation/scrutiny than private attorney/foster mother adoptions.

My agency is committed to completing adoptions for those families that have been accepted into the Guatemalan program. There are many unknowns since they have not traveled down this path previously.

Sorry for the length...

[pippac]

Thank you for posting the details. I was wondering what was going on. Very interesting to get a glimpse into the DOS working. Looks like there is more going on behind the scenes than we know about. I hope upcoming changes do not impact all of us in process too much...many of us have already been waiting too long.
Have a wonderful trip!

[susy...patience]

I appreciate the info too....thanks for passing it on. It makes me very scared but it's good to know what's happening.

[Theslaws]

Thanks for the info!!!

By Orphan investigation stage Im guessing the mean before issuing PA??

[amylulu]

Thanks for the update!
I hope you have a great trip tomorrow!

[SkitSkit8]

This was very interesting. Thanks for sharing!!!

[dance_muffin]

Tracy, thanks you so much for all the info. I appreciate that you gave us all the details. It is good that we are informed on changes that are probably going to happen soon than later. I'm sad to say I think we will have longer wait times to complete our adoptions.

On a lighter note, have a wonderful visit trip with your baby!

[MyFerrellClan]

Am I wrong to ask what agency we're talking about? I think that would be helpful info.

[wvamom]

Wow--how much baby switching is going on? I mean, even once is too much, but just wondering how pervasive this is....

Also, when we get the pics of the bmom with the child from the DNA test, wouldn't we recognize that wasn't our child? I mean, maybe not with a newborn, but our son was a year old at the time of DNA. I clearly knew it was he when I saw his picture.

Carolyn

[DPline]

Originally Posted by wvamom

Wow--how much baby switching is going on? I mean, even once is too much, but just wondering how pervasive this is....

Also, when we get the pics of the bmom with the child from the DNA test, wouldn't we recognize that wasn't our child? I mean, maybe not with a newborn, but our son was a year old at the time of DNA. I clearly knew it was he when I saw his picture.

Carolyn

I am wondering that too. But like you, my children were older at DNA, so maybe with a newborn where DNA is done very quickly. It just seems odd to me, but maybe I am just very naive.

Thank you for posting this TLOchs!

[sassycindy]

My baby was a newborn at referral and I definitely could see where she could have been switched and we would never know. The pics i saw of her at 3 days look absolutely NOTHING like those i saw at 1 month, and then 2 months was totally different too. I think the DNA was done around 2-3 months or so. The only thing that remained the same was that she had a faint red mark on her forehead that was always there so we knew she was the same.

She looked different every single month. I met her first at 4.5 months and when i went to get her at 5.5. months she looked different again--but i knew she was the same baby. Once i got her home, by 8 months she looked like a totally different kid again. So yeah, i definitely see where they could switch a baby and not tell the family. Horrible to consider. Sad that 1 agency is stopping adoptions, but i do think things need to get straigtened out down there for everyone's sake.

Cindy

[JustBarbara]

Thanks for this informative post. I'm sorry to hear the agency is stopping new referrals but I understand why and I guess it's better to be up front with those who are thinking of Guatemala and not mislead them about prospects. Sad, sad but not surprising given all that we've heard and read. - Barbara

[Quesita]

Originally Posted by sassycindy

My baby was a newborn at referral and I definitely could see where she could have been switched and we would never know. The pics i saw of her at 3 days look absolutely NOTHING like those i saw at 1 month, and then 2 months was totally different too. I think the DNA was done around 2-3 months or so. The only thing that remained the same was that she had a faint red mark on her forehead that was always there so we knew she was the same.

She looked different every single month. I met her first at 4.5 months and when i went to get her at 5.5. months she looked different again--but i knew she was the same baby. Once i got her home, by 8 months she looked like a totally different kid again. So yeah, i definitely see where they could switch a baby and not tell the family. Horrible to consider. Sad that 1 agency is stopping adoptions, but i do think things need to get straigtened out down there for everyone's sake.

Cindy

First of all, thank you Tracy for such a comprehensive overview of the conference call. I went over my notes, and didn't see anything I had written down that was not included in your notes.

In terms of the "baby switching" concern, the person presenting the issue, who has frequent contact with DOS officials, said that he asked what evidenced they had that this was happening, and said "We want to be part of the solution." He said no evidence was offered.

I also really want to stress that the agency stated that this is a temporary suspension. They are committed to keeping their promises to families, and feel sure that families starting now (even those still waiting for referrals) will be able to complete their adoptions. If I understood correctly, they are currently positioning themselves so that when the various changes take effect both on the US side and the Guat side, they will be ready to re-open under the new reality.

I left the conference call feeling that the agency, (with many many decades of experience in domestic and international adoptions) was politically savy, realistic, and really committed to following through with families. I feel like they know things are going to change, and are not willing to take on new families until they know how to serve those families under the upcoming changes.

[skipdaisy]

bumping...

Thank you for posting this...have a great trip!!

[Candace3]

thanks so much for sharing this information... i don't like that it sound like we may have longer waits but it is good to know what is going on. thanks.